Rolling shutter.



PATBNTED NOV. 21, 1905.

J. CAHILL. ROLLING SHUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. a. 1904.

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Hill

JOHN OAHILL, OF NORFOLK, VIRGINIA.

ROLLING SHUTTER.

v Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 21, 1905.

Application filed Nvvmber 8, 1904. Serial No. 231,828

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Jol-IN CAHILL, a citizen of the United States, residing in Norfolk, in the county of Norfolk and State of Virginia, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement Relating to Rolling Shutters, of

which the following is a specification.

The improvement lies in the roller and the provisions for working it. Any of the ordinary styles of rolling shutter can be used with my improvement. I will describe-it as applied to one of the long-approved forms, using the term roller to designate the set of partial rollers or pulleys which are pro erly spaced apart on a horizontal shaft. Ih the axial line of the roller I mount a relatively stationary rod on which springs are carriedi which engage the pulleys. When the roller,` com osed of the several pulleys, has by its revo ution in the proper direction wound upon itself one layer of the shutter and it commences to Wind the second layer, I allow the entire roller to change its position by correspondingly moving away from the building; This allows the shutter to rise and sink al ways from the extreme inner line of a cylinder, which varies in diameter as the shutter, is wrapped around it. f

In my improved construction, as in many before in use, the weight of the shutter is ap-l proximately balanced by springs. I have devised a construction in which a short sleeve is carried on the rod free to turn thereon, with a volute spring carried on each end. Thus arranged t e lateral strains due to the two springs are balanced with the effect to greatly reduce the friction of the sleeve.' The nearly stationary axial rod should be cylindrical at those portions of its length which carry the sleeves and may be so throughout its whole length. A screw or other suitable fastening secures the inner ends of the two volute springs to this central rod. The outer end of each spring fastens to the interior of the rim of a pulley. The sleeve must be sufficiently long to give a good bearing on the cylindrical rod within. As the hub or sleeve is limited in length, because it cannot extend longitudinally into the space traversed by the spring, there is likely to be a tendency to a skewing of the sleeve, which I resist by the bearing being of sufficient length and peculiarly fitted. I can use two or more such sleeves arranged end to end in the same roller, if required, or I can allow all the other pulleys to freely without any sleeve or spring.

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The following is a description of what I consider the best means of carrying out the invention.

The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification.

Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly in vertical section, showinv the entire mechanism with the shutter neafly unrolled. A portion' of the shutter is broken away. Fig. 2 is a corresponding end view as seen from the left in Fig. l. Fig. 3 shows a portion on a larger scale. It is a central vertical section corresponding to the section in Fig. l.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures where they appear.

A is the wall of a building.

A is a casing secured at the sides, respectively, of the window-opening and loosely inclosing the edges of the shutter when it is drawn down into position for use.

A2 represents mechanism, each equipped to allow a carriage to move toward and from the building when required.

O O are carriages adapted to so travel and to form supports for the roller land its attachments.

C C are small wheels mounted on pins on each carriage and capable of traveling on the brackets A2. Other wheels C2 C2, which may be smaller, as their work is lighter, are carried on each carriage, bearing against the under side of the corresponding bracket. I have shown in Fig. 2 two such wheels acting underneath. l

B is a relatively stationary rod supported in such carriages and adapted to carry the weight and also to serve as an abutment for the springs to resist the torsional strain. I have shown this in a tubular form, the main ortion being a sufficiently stout tube, and the bearing a`t each end firmly held by a screw F in the U-shaped pocket O4, provided in the corresponding carriage.

D is a sleeve turning loosely on the rod.

brackets which support the l TOO D D are extended disks or pulleys, and D2 i to facilitate the turning of the roller and the The upper slat is IIO consequent raising and lowering of the shut-l ter. As shown, the shutterhaving its gravity nearly balanced in all positions by the tendency of the springs to uncoil is raised or lowered by the direct application of the hands of an attendant. Y

D3 represents wide rims constituting what I will term barrels,H one on the periphery of each disk.

E E are the springs of sufficiently stout.v

flat steel, coiled volute after the manner of clock-springs. The inner end of each spring is secured by the screw E to the shaft B, and the outer endof each spring is secured to the inner surface of the corresponding kbarrel D3. Itwill be seen that there are thus two springs E E for one sleeve D. When properly `wound or chargedf each spring exerts a force tending 1to turn the sleeve D and its attachments in the direction to lift the shutter. In that respect they are coincident or identical in their action but in another respect they exert forces which are opposed and balance each other-that is, the tendency to skew the sleeve D in its bearings on the shaft. There' is ordinarily a disturbing force exerted by each volute spring. Each exerts force tending vto set the sleeve askew on the rod. The screws E for the two springs should be set `in accord, both on the same side of the'axis of motion, so that the radial force ofone ring is inthe same direction as that ofthe olier spring, and beiner exerted at Aopposite `ends of the sleeves the vskewing strain of each balances that of the other. In other words, the skewing action of one spring opposes :the 'skewing action of the other by both urging its end of the sleeve D in the same-direction e ually. There vis thus a lateral kpressure ont e sleeve; but it is uniform along the entire length. There is no skewin strain.

2 B2 are disks fixed by screws B3 to the rod B. Each vis nearly in contact with the outer end ofthe corresponding barrel D3 and serves not only to make a iinish, but to keep the sleeve D and its attachments, including the corresponding spring E, in position.

I have shown two sleeves D, each with two corresponding barrels. Both sets may be used `with `springs or one may be a dummy. In either case each will serve as a part of the roller to 'receive and give off the rolling shutter. 'There may be additional loose pulleys, dummies.

There is a tendency in mechanism of this kind for the rod B, with its load, the flexible rolling shutter, to lbe drawn inward toward the building. I resist this by a helical spring I, connecting each end of the rod B with an arm 'A4, bolted on an extension of each` =bracket A3. The vexteriorsof the barrels D3, and'consequently ofthe rollers, are not circles. An oset 1s made at D4 in each barrel to a depth'about equal to the thickness of the shutter, and the contour of each pulley from the across from one pulley to the -next in the deepest part of the notches thus formed, and the top bar of the shutter is secured there. To raise the shutter, the roller is slowly revolved in the proper direction, and the shutter winds on the-recessed roller. The top bar of the roller is sunk just so much that when one complete vrevolution has been vmade and the roller commences 'to accumulate a-second layer it mounts thereon without'seriouslydisturbing the cylindrical form of the mass, and all lies smoothly and evenly in every part of each circuit.

I use the term Idouble-ended `as applied to the spring to mean .that the ends alternate in their action, the two ends beingnotnecessarily alike in form, but Abeing each ready lto serve and actually serving at some periods as the working end and at other lperiods simply as the abutment lfor the action.

Modifications .may be made without departing from the principle or sacrificing the advantages of the invention.

Parts can vbe used without others. l Some of the benefits may be realized -withonly one spring, simply omitting one'of the springs I include-in the term rolling shutteruany of the various forms of metal or wood partitions made in sections wound upon the roller and pendent `therefrom lby gravity.

The size and thickness of vthe .pulleys or disks D may be varied vwithin widelirnits.

I claim as my invention* 1. In shutter-operating mechanism lhaving a shaft B ya sleeve D turning loosely thereon and provisions for `turning the -shaft and the sleeve with different motions, rthe two barrels D3 on the ends respectively of said sleeve D and the bridge D2 and .rivet N connecting such barrels to the upper'edgeof the shutter, combined substantially as herein specified.

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2. In a shutter-operating mechanism, the n combination with a rolling shutter, guidingways, and a roller, of 4a spring exerting a force in opposition to the gravity of the shutter, an internal rod serving as an `abutment for thespring, and an Ainterposed -sleeve having a barrelserving to connect the-spring and such shaft and a second spring correspondingly carried on such sleeve, arranged Vas shown, so that theradial force 'of two such springs balance each other, all substantially as herein specified.

3. In a shutter-operating mechanism having a shaft B, supported in carriages C C traveling toward and from'the building and a series of barrels D3 loosely supported 'and revoluble thereon having each an offset D4 with the diameter increased uniformly there- IIS ISO

from quite around the periphery substantially as herein specified.

4. In shutter-operating mechanism, the combination with a rolling shutter, guiding! ways, and a roller, of a spring exerting a force in o position to the ravity of the shutter an a sleeve running oosely on such shaft carrying a barrel which constitutes a portion of the roller and a separately-formed internal shaft serving as an abutment for the spring, two carriages having each a U-shaped bearing and fastening means F for one end of such shaft, level ways for such carriages and anoutside spring I near each end of the roller for aiding the movement of the roller in one direction, all arranged for joint operation vsubstantially as herein specified.

5. In shutteroperating mechanism, the combination with a rolling shutter, guidingwys, and a roller with means for turning such ro er to raise and lower the shutter, of springs and means for supporting the weight of the shutter thereby, two carrlages having each a bearing for one end of such shaft, level ways for such carriages, and an outside spring I near each end of the roller for aiding the movement of the roller in one direction along such ways as the shutter` accumulates in thickness on the roller all arranged to serve substantially as herein speciiied.

In testimony that I claim the invention above set forth I aIiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN CAHILL. 

